So today’s was a “rather short” College of Commissioners admitted the Commission’s deputy spokesman Alexander Winterstein.

Brexit items

Winterstein confirmed the president of the European Commission had a phone conversation with British Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday evening about the upcoming negotiations.

Shortly after the Commission’s press conference, it published a memo on Brexit and the timeline for talks, along with a statement from the European Council on the U.K.’s Article 50 letter.

“We will approach these talks constructively and strive to find an agreement. In the future, we hope to have the United Kingdom as a close partner,” the statement said.

Interestingly Winterstein also said the Commission will not have (at least for the moment), a dedicated spokesperson on the Brexit negotiations. It seems that for the time being, that job will fall to the chief spokesperson of the Berlaymont Margaritis Schinas.

“We are ready for those negotiations, teams are in place and they will conduct those negotiations,” said Winterstein. He added that the Commission’s spokespersons service is focusing on the “new sense of purpose,” and the Commission’s daily work — including its EU white paper and the Rome declaration on the EU post-Brexit.

Jonathan Hill is back (!)

Someone else who is moving on is the former British commissioner Jonathan Hill. He has accepted two new jobs as one of the independent national directors of The Times Newspapers and a special adviser to the law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

Hill was the British commissioner from November 2014 to July 2016, holding the financial services brief. He resigned after the U.K. voted to leave the European Union. He was replaced by Julian King who is the European commissioner for the security union.

In its memo but also on the podium, the Commission made it clear that Hill will not have privileged access to his former colleagues and staffers and will not be allowed to lobby the Commission.

This is in line with the Commissioners’ code of conduct — currently undergoing reform — which says former European commissioners taking on new jobs within 18 months of leaving the Berlaymont must first get the green light from the Commission.

Besides Brexit

Ahead of the meeting, the European commissioner for competition Margrethe Vestager announced the Commission would block the merger the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Börse.

Winterstein also indicated Juncker on Tuesday had a phone conversation with Christian Kern the Austrian chancellor who sent a letter requesting Austria to be excluded from the EU-wide refugee relocation scheme. Even if some countries like Sweden have achieved an exemption from EU rules on the relocation of refugees, Winterstein said the “Commission will analyze the letter” and both leaders will remain in touch on the issue.

If within a year this citizens’ initiative receives a million of signatures from at least seven EU countries, the European Commission will need to start working on potential EU legislation “to improve the protection of persons belonging to national and linguistic minorities and strengthen cultural and linguistic diversity in the Union”.